Falling into the Abyss
by howlingember
Summary: This is a continuation of the challenge fic Falling into the Abyss, by Dany le fou. Riful knows that it's stupid, but despite her better judgement, she saves a young man, Raki, from the organization. With the devourer's spears in his shoulder, and Priscilla's arm in his back, Riful gently nudges him to the borderline of humanity... Based off of Claymore, ratings may change.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **This is a continuation of the challenge fic_Falling into the abyss _by Dany le fou. I _really, really _suggest going back and reading the initial chapter, but basically what happens is Riful, who has survived Priscilla's attack, comes across the retrieval squad of the organization taking something back to headquarters. She kills and devours the squad, but stops short when she sees what the squad was taking back. A young man (Raki!) who has two rods from the devourer lodged in his shoulder, but isn't overtaken, because he is being protected by the very being that attempted to kill her (Priscilla). Intrigued, she decides to keep Raki alive, and hopes that in light of almost being killed and losing Dauf, she will gain a powerful ally, and maybe even a friend out of him.

_A true friend…_

Riful stared intently at the young man who lay before her. He was spread on a makeshift bed in the center of a dimly lit room. Well, what Riful considered a bed anyway. In reality it consisted of little more than a couple of threadbare blankets spread across the dark cobblestones. The man was lying on his stomach; his chest rose and fell with even, smooth breaths.

That was the only good news though. An arm, cut off at the elbow, was buried wrist deep in his bare back. As if the arm wasn't enough, two three foot long organic spears were imbedded in his shoulder. The outermost rod pierced straight through his arm and out the other side. The other rod was just as deep, but remained in the flesh, causing his skin along his left torso to bulge unnaturally.

Riful examined the rods now. A moan escaped the man's lips and his body tensed with pain. The rods transformed into disgusting faces emitting weak streams of yoma energy. They connected and rearranged blood vessels and arteries in their host before a sharp burst of energy from the arm in his back placated the rods. The man's body relaxed and his breathing returned to normal. Riful hissed. That transformation had lasted barely 2 minutes, a large difference in the hour-long transformations that had occurred only two days before. His face was peaceful now, he was sleeping. In fact, he hadn't so much as stirred from his sleep since Riful had brought him here. Somehow, the foreign objects in his body, or perhaps he had done it himself, had put this man into a sort of hibernation. It was a bit annoying, as Riful wanted to talk to him, but she supposed that in a sense, it would make the next part easier.

Riful scowled, _if I'm going to do this, it needs to be soon._ Still, she hesitated. The way things were now, the rods and the arm would run out of yoma energy at about the same moment. This man would remain just that - a human man. Riful didn't exactly want that. She needed an ally, someone powerful to rely on. Not quite as powerful as her of course, but powerful nonetheless. What made her hesitate was the prospect of the unknown. If she did as she was planning, there would be no guarantee as to what he would become. He would be something completely different than this land had ever seen. Probably not human, not yoma, not a claymore, and certainly not an awakened being such as herself. In fact, there was a large chance he would die. Yes, a weak and untrained human would almost certainly die of shock from such a large inflow of youki energy. Even if he did survive, he might end up hopelessly weak. Or not. Riful had been in a similar position before, and her bad decision had ended in her lover's death and nearly hers as well. She knew the smart thing to do would be to kill this man and destroy the arm and rods, but her curiosity got the better of her.

_Well. It's now or never anyway. _Almost excited, Riful used her hair to restrict the man's movements. Then, using the sharp blades, she mercilessly cut through the skin and bone surrounding the foreign spears; she ripped the rods out before they had a chance to make any sort of connection again and threw them away. They clattered dimly against the far wall as the man's scream echoed throughout the cavern. The smell of fresh blood wafted to where Riful was sitting. Her lips turned upward in a smirk. _Mmm. I'm hungry. Now, if my predictions are correct, the youki from the arm will spread throughout his body. _Beneath her restraints, the man suddenly thrashed away from her touch.

"What…" Riful let go of him in surprise at his strength. And he _was_ strong. Not a match for her, but stronger than she expected any human to be. "My, my…" Riful easily caught him again, and she was very pleased to find that his efforts to escape his bonds actually exerted her. She squeezed her hair tighter, and the man struggled harder. _Well then, is this a result of some sort of training this man has received, or is the arm already spreading it's youki throughout his body?_ Riful extended her consciousness toward the arm, and found that its youki, now completely unhindered from the tethers to the rods, was spreading through his body. _Perfect._

After long and hard consideration, Riful had decided that removing the devourer's spears was the best course of action to take. It allowed her to decide exactly how much power she wanted her new ally to have, and had a better chance of success than is she removed the arm; she didn't want his consciousness to be taken over like Dauf's had.

Beneath her, the man's efforts to escape stopped. He grasped the arm in his back as if trying to pull it out. _No you don't._ Riful restrained his arms and legs and laid him on his stomach again; he was stretched out, and completely helpless to what was happening. Riful took note that he was conscious now, though just barely.

Meanwhile, the youki was spreading like poison through his body. It had already saturated the blood and tissue in his arm and moved like wildfire down to his torso and legs. _Yes!_ The energy spreading throughout his human body was beautiful and savage. She sensed the strain it was causing his vitals and frowned. All the same, Riful was amazed at the pure quality of energy from the arm. Youki energy came in many types of quality and that, along with hard work and the training of the individual, largely decided how much power they would possess. Now this quality was unlike any she had ever seen. It was purer than hers, purer than Isley's or Luciela's as well.

_That is to be expected though, _she thought grudgingly, _this arm is from a monster that surpasses even the abyssal ones after all… It was a good thing I waited as long as I did to remove the rods, otherwise the amount of energy combined with the quality would no doubt have either killed him, or done away with his consciousness and created some terrible monster. Actually…_ Riful examined the youki remaining in the arm. _I may have waited a teeny bit too long. It looks like there may not be enough energy to completely saturate his body. _It was true; the energy spread throughout his left arm and torso, as well as both his legs, but rapidly lost strength. Below her, the man shook uncontrollably. Cold beads of sweat dripped down his face and his breath thinned.

His eyes were open, but glazed over with pain; Riful doubted he could see anything right now. Despite herself, she sympathized with him, every being that went through the process of becoming a claymore had felt this pain, or a similar one anyway. His back suddenly arched off the ground, and he vomited up a thin trail of bile. _Eeeew. _Riful moved him away from the puke so she didn't have to look at it. The strain on his body was great, his chest heaved up and down, desperately trying to get more oxygen into his lungs. In the meantime, the slowing trail of youki managed to soak his right arm, before coming to a halting stop.

…_Damn. Almost, but not quite. _His heart beat became erratic, and his breath even more labored. For a moment, it looked like he was dying, his eyes fluttered closed, and Riful held her breath. Then his heart beat strengthened, and his breathing became regular again. He fell limpin her restraints. She let go of him, and he sagged gracelessly on the floor. He was asleep again. Riful retracted her hair, and walked around the man, examining her handiwork. _I'm glad he didn't die. All that work would have been for nothing. _

His entire body pulsed with yoma energy, all except for one spot. The right portion of his neck, and roughly half of his face remained completely human. _Interesting. So that's his weak spot, huh. I'll remember that. _

Riful glanced with disdain at the arm that remained stuck in his back. Looking at it, Riful was once again struck by how strange it was that the very monster that had tried to kill her, would save a mere human, using her arm no less! She pulled it out and threw it away with the rods. Almost immediately, the hole in his back began to regenerate. Her lips curved upward in a smile. _This… is perfect actually. This man is obviously very strong, but not quite as strong as me. Even if he was, he has an extremely vulnerable part of his body that I can exploit if it comes down to it. I'm… excited now._ _I probably have a couple of hours until his body recovers from the shock; I guess I'll go see if I can find something to eat. _

Riful extended her mind and found that there were no sources of yoma energy nearby except for herself, the man, and the occasional yoma or warrior. _He'll be fine until I get back._

Riful hummed to herself as she walked back into the ruins of the castle. She had enjoyed a delicious meal involving three very handsome human brothers. She had especially enjoyed the look on the face of the eldest, as he realized he would not be able to save his younger siblings. Her hunger sated, Riful walked back into the chamber confidently. The man was just beginning to stir. She approached his figure coolly, and gently rolled him onto his back. She lit more candles around the room and covered him with a blanket. She fetched the rods and arm and set them at the end of his makeshift bed. Then she sat down and waited. She didn't have to wait long. With a groan, the man brought a hand to his face and rubbed his eyes.

"Maaan. I have a killer headache. Would you grab me my water from the bag Priscilla? I Think I… oh." The man sat up and looked around the cavern silently before turning to the kneeling figure beside him. When he turned, Riful started with shock at his appearance. He was very handsome; there was no doubt about that. What surprised her were his eyes. His right eye was a warm brown color, and his left frightening silver. The mismatched eyes studied her silently, and then the man said, "Hello."

"Hi." She replied.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"I am Riful of the West." Riful explained.

"Riful of the West… My name is Raki." He hesitated a moment and then said, "Are you human?"

"I think you know the answer to that question."

He nodded. "I do." Glancing around the cavern, he said, "Can you tell me how I got here? The last thing I remember, I was in a cart on my way to the organization."

"Yes. I rescued you from the organization's men and brought you here." Riful watched as Raki silently touched his shoulder where the rods had been embedded, and then twisted around to examine his back. "I removed the arm and spears shortly after I brought you here. They're right here." Riful gestured toward the appendages at his feet. Ignoring the rods, he picked the arm and examined it, before carefully setting it back down.

"I suppose I owe you a thanks. The organization… who knows what they would have done with me there." Raki shuddered at the thought, and Riful didn't blame him. "However, I really should be going now. I have several things I need to take care of."

_Is that how it's going to be? _Riful thought. _Well then…_ Riful shook her head. "I'm afraid I can't let you leave."

Raki scowled and examined her silently, as if sizing her up for battle.

Riful continued on, pretending not to notice his muscles tense and bunch up in preparation for an attack. "I cannot allow you to leave because you'd be a danger to yourself, as well as others."

"What?" He didn't relax, if anything, he looked more wary, but Riful could see the confusion in his eyes.

"Can't you tell already?" She asked innocently.

"…tell what?" he growled.

Riful smirked and looked the man, no, Raki. _He's in denial… or maybe he really hasn't figured it out yet._ "Don't you feel… different? Better maybe? Stronger?"

Raki's scowled deepened and he didn't answer.

_He still doesn't get it. I can't tell him outright, he won't believe me._ "Hmm." Riful cupped her face in her hand and looked up at Raki with big, innocent eyes. Releasing a bit of yoma energy she said, "do you… sense… anything strange about me?" _I wonder if he can actually can…_

Raki cocked his head to one side as if listening to something far away. "Actually, yeah. What is that? It feels like… I'm seeing you without actually seeing you. Or maybe a better way to describe it would be that I can _feel _your presence. Does that make any sense?"

"Of course it does. You're sensing my yoma energy. Just like I'm sensing yours right now," Riful hinted shamelessly.

"…You… are sensing _my_ yoma energy."

"Yes."

"I don't have yoma energy. I'm a human."

"Sure you were before. I can tell that as well, but whatever that arm was… it changed you." Riful waited patiently for Raki's reaction. _He must know I'm right. He can probably sense his own energy now._

Slowly, Raki closed his eyes and brought his hand to his face. For a moment Riful thought that he was going to cry, but he didn't. Instead he took several deep breaths before lowering his hand. He gazed at her steadily with his different eyes.

"What am I?" He asked softly.

"I don't know." Riful admitted. "All I know is that arm released a large amount of youki into your body, and that you are no longer quite human.

"… I see. I'm not a claymore am I?"

Riful could hear the fear in his voice and wondered if he knew about the fate of male warriors. She shook her head. "No. No, I can sense a significant difference in your aura and a claymore's."

He smiled. "Well that's a relief. It's… Riful, right? If you don't mind me asking, why did you save me?

She shrugged. "It's not like I went out of my way or anything. I just happened to be passing by when I sensed that peculiar aura and decided it might be worth checking out."

"And the organizations men?"

"What about them?"

"Did you kill them?"

Riful hesitated a moment before admitting, "Yes."

"Well, I can't say I'm particularly sorry about that!" He laughed, and Riful found herself smiling in return. His smile suddenly faded, and he looked down at his hands sadly. "I'm… not human anymore." Riful thought it would be best to not reply. "Say, you wouldn't happen to have any food would you? I'm pretty hungry."

"She narrowed her eyes, "what did you have in mind?"

"Ah, nothing fancy! Just some bread or cheese or something!"

"Hmm."_ He didn't ask for any sort of meat…_ Riful stood up and padded over to a crate in a corner of the room.

"Let's see… I know I have some food around here somewhere." Raki watched her carefully as she sifted through crates looking for food. She held the appearance of a young girl, aged around eleven or twelve, but Raki knew she was likely much older than himself. _She doesn't seem to want to hurt me at least. If she had, she could have just done so while I was unconscious. So what does she want? I find it hard to believe that she just felt like helping me. Then again, maybe she did. Isley didn't seem to have any reason to help me, but he did. No matter what, I need to be wary from here on out. _Raki specifically avoided thinking about the precarious situation in which his humanity now rested. It was much simpler to form strategies against the girl and view her as the biggest concern for his safety than think about confusing things like that.

"Aha!" Riful smiled triumphantly and held up a loaf of bread. "I knew this was around here somewhere! It's a good thing I didn't throw it out! Here you go!"

"…Thanks." Raki held the bread up uneasily. To his surprise, it looked fresh. He happily ate it.

"Here's some water too." Riful handed Raki a canteen, and he washed the bread down with it.

Riful looked at him carefully. _He seemed to actually enjoy that human food. So I suppose that means he is closer to a human or claymore in nature than someone like me. Is that a good thing…?_

"Mmm. Thanks. That really took the edge off of my hunger. I can feel some strength returning to my body." Slowly, Raki stretched his muscles and, using the wall to support himself, stood up. "My muscles are peculiarly sore. I mean, I'm used to being sore, but these feels very strange. Almost good actually."

Riful smiled and said nothing. Looking at him now, Riful saw that not only did he have a nice face, but a very handsome body as well. And underneath that delicious skin, she could sense something even better. His yoma energy swirled with his movements in a limitless explosive power. Yes, she definitely made the right choice in keeping him alive.

"So, um…" Raki stretched his arms across his body and over his head, methodically stretching his muscles. Riful sensed his hesitation in his aura. _He really wears his heart on his sleeve doesn't he? He doesn't even try to hide what he's feeling. _

Riful gave him her most charismatic smile. "There's a village not too far from here. If you wish, I can take you there, and we can get you some better food… Also, we can test your reaction to humans." Raki gulped nervously and his aura became a chaotic whirlpool of anxiety and fear.

"Yes." He spoke calmly, despite the heavy emotions in his aura. "That seems like a good idea." _He's afraid. He doesn't know what to think about this; he might not even fully believe it yet. Now is the time to cultivate him into a loyal ally. Although his strength is greater than ever, his spirit is vulnerable and open to suggestion. I need to convince him that I mean him no harm, and am merely being friendly. I couldn't ask for a better opportunity. _

"You don't need to fear." She said kindly. "I'll stop you before you do anything you might regret." She felt her words soothe his aura slightly, but his unease was still apparent. He turned away from her and asked,

"When you rescued me, did I have a sword, or armor?"

"The armor you were wearing is over here. I didn't see any sword." Raki shrugged on his shirt and clasped on his armor quickly. The left shoulder plates were missing, but it wasn't all that serious; they could be replaced. Raki laughed nervously, "I feel sort of naked without my sword."

"So you fight with a sword then?"

"Ah… yes. For many years now."

"Well, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about your sword as of right now. Come on, we should - oh! I almost forgot, we need to do something about that eye before we go to the village."

"What eye?"

"Hmm. There's a mirror next to that chair over there. Will you grab it?" She asked.

"Uh, okay." Raki grabbed the hand mirror and gave it to her.

"So, Raki. When the youki energy penetrated your body from the arm, there wasn't enough to completely saturate your body. In the end, I guess a little of you was left mostly human."

"Wha-"

"Here. Your eyes are proof that you are no longer completely human." She gave Raki the mirror back, and he looked at himself dubiously. Moments later his jaw dropped and stared at himself dumbfounded.

"M-my eye! It's silver! Holy crap…" he looked into the mirror again, pulling down the skin below his left eye. "Well this is… certainly unexpected." Adjusting the mirror, he turned to examine his brown eye. "This one looks about the same as it always does. Why?"

"Like I said before, there wasn't enough youki energy to completely fill your body. The right side of your face and some of your neck remains human."

Raki tugged at his face in different directions. "This is so _weird._" Riful suddenly found herself laughing, not giggling, but real and genuine laughter.

"What?"

"Your… expression just now…" she said between laughs "too… funny!" Raki frowned for a moment and then joined in.

"Yeah. It's just all a little strange me, you know?"

Riful nodded and wiped her eyes, "I get it. All claymores or trainees go through about the same thing you are feeling… but anyway, if we're going to go into town, you should probably cover up your silver eye somehow." Raki looked thoughtful for a moment, and then walked over to his makeshift bed.

"Is it alright if I tear a strip off of one of these blankets?"

"Go ahead." Raki did as he said, and tore a long, thin strip of fabric from a blanket. He tied it diagonally across his face so that it covered his silver eye, but did not impede with the other.

"There! Now I can just pretend I lost my eye or something. How do I look?"

Riful smiled. "Like a pirate. Let's go." Raki nodded and followed her cautiously down the castle's corridor and outside.

**Author's note:** Leave a review and let me know what you think (reviews get chapters out faster!). I'm open to any suggestions you may have, but no telling me that this pairing is stupid or that Raki is stupid or whatever. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the first chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

The town was a small one, with one road in, and one road out. Three sides of the town bordered the forest, and the other lay up against a large rock face. "Wow." Raki said when they approached the town. "That's a huge cliff."

Riful glanced up at Raki. "It's called 'Bleeding Rain Peak.'

"Why is it called that?"

"I don't know. Some tragedy that no one remembers probably gave the peak its name." Riful shrugged carelessly. She didn't really care what the cliff was called or why. The young man beside her, on the other hand, continued to stare up at the sheer face in silent contemplation.

Riful looked at it too, but her mind wandered. As the silence grew Riful's thoughts turned to her deceased companion. _Dauf… _Despite any attitude she had taken towards him, she had really loved the big oaf. He had been a big baby at times, and yes, he wasn't very bright. But he had been _hers. _He had accepted her for who she was, and she had accepted him. _Do you know how much I miss you? _Silently, Riful scorned her selfishness. It had been Dauf's sacrifice that had allowed her to live, and she would never forget that.

"Riful!"

"Huh?" Riful suddenly realized that Raki had been talking to her.

"Were you even listening?"

"Ah, no sorry, I was thinking about something."

"That's alright; we're almost to the town anyway." Raki looked down at her, his face a mask of confusion and fear. "If I… do anything… you will stop me, right?" Forcing lingering thoughts about her former lover away, Riful smiled reassuringly and said,

"Of course Raki, don't worry about a thing." He nodded, and his face smoothed over, but his aura still held a nervous energy. Upon sensing this, Riful instinctively reached to take his hand, but quickly withdrew. If Raki noticed, he didn't show it. His eyes were fixed intently on the town ahead of them. _Why did I do that? It must be because I was just thinking of Dauf. _

Riful had no more time to ponder her actions as the odd pair soon entered the town. Despite its small size, the town bustled with activity. To the right, a small group of children carried water from a well. To their left, a shopkeeper organized his display rack for the day.

Raki began to relax slightly. The familiar sight of a busy town eased his nerves, and he wasn't feeling the least bit weird or out of the ordinary. Stretching his arms behind his head, a slow smile formed on his face and he watched the happy scene contentedly.

"Hey Riful," he said after several moments, "I think I'm going to be okay. I mean, I don't feel like attacking people or anything."

"… That's good. Although we should be careful just in-" Riful was suddenly cut off by a loud shriek to their right. Raki spun around quickly, his hand already grasping for a sword that was not there. His single brown-eye zeroed in on the source of the scream. Upon finding it, the imposing man's face suddenly contorted, and he let out an embarrassed laugh.

Two children, a boy and a girl, had abandoned their water-carrying duties and were chasing each other around the well. The girl was soaked in water, and the boy ran away from her snatching hands, laughing hysterically. Raki grinned at the spectacle and laughed when the girl finally caught the boy and rung her wet hair out over his giggling form. Beside him, Riful stared on with annoyance. _What's so funny about that anyway?_ Looking up at her companion, the brunette wondered at how he could get such joy from watching human children mess around.

"Hmph. Come on Raki, I think there's a bit of a market place this way."

"Alright." He said, still smiling. They moved further into the town, and Riful sensed Raki's aura soothing over. When they reached the small market, Raki happily chatted away with a merchant while buying some bread and vegetables.

"Say," the chubby merchant said as Raki peered at a bunch of carrots. "Are you two new to the area? I don't recall seeing you around."

"We're just passing through." Raki replied smoothly.

The merchant examined the two carefully. "Well!" he said to Riful, "Aren't you a pretty lass! How old are you miss?"

"Fifteen." She replied immediately. It was, of course, a lie. But that was the age Riful had awakened at, and although her body was small for that age she found she could easily pass it off.

Turning to Raki the merchant asked, "Is she the missus?"

Amused, Riful opened her mouth to deny the statement but stopped short. Beside her, Raki turned bright red and his aura glowed with embarrassment. "N-n-no!" He stammered, "It-it's not like _that. _W-we- we just…" Raki turned to Riful for help, panic on his face.

For a moment Riful didn't move. _No way…_ _don't tell me… he's still… _Smiling mischievously, Riful looped her small arm through his muscular one and leaned into his frame. 

"We're _engaged._" She said matter-of-factly.

For a moment, nobody moved. Then with a sudden yelp, Raki leapt away from her, his hands outstretched from his body, as if to keep her at bay. His face was as red as the radishes in the merchants chart, and his mouth hung open in shock and denial.

Riful giggled and stepped forward to appease her companion… only to nearly crumple to her knees. Raki's aura of embarrassment surged to one of a dazzling gold; the air around him shimmered with youki power, and Riful fought to regain control of herself.

In the central city of Rabona, a blind nun suddenly started. Her sightless eyes darted to the west and she stood frozen. _Did I… really just feel that?_ But there was no mistaking it, for just a moment, a familiar and dangerous aura suddenly spiked to an awesome power before quieting back down. _That was Riful of the west… but it felt… strange. Stronger. Has something happened the western abyssal one? _The nun shivered. The pure force of it left an unpleasant,metallic taste in her mouth. Shakily, she left to inform her companion of the aura.

Riful rose shakily. Raki stood in the center of the street, a confused look on his face. The small girl's body tingled with lingering power, and she knew with stark certainty what had just occurred.

"Umm… Riful? Are you okay? You suddenly just-"

"I'm fine." She interrupted. Turning around, she quickly grabbed the groceries Raki picked out and threw some money at the merchant, who stood there, dazed. _Even the humans were affected! _Facing Raki she said, "Hurry. We need to leave."

"Wha-? Riful, wait! What just happened? You suddenly collapsed! Are you hurt?"

"I'll explain in a moment!" Riful snapped. "Now just shut up and come with me!" Raki followed her uncertainly through the town, looking crossways at the townspeople. The first several they passed had the same dazed look as the merchant; but as they moved forward, the villagers began to come alive. They blinked as if startled from a daydream and shook themselves uncertainly before continuing with their day.

"Riful." Raki begged once they were out of the town, "_please_ tell me what's going on. Are we in danger? Why were the villagers acting so weird?" Riful sighed and slowed her pace down a bit.

"Raki. They were acting that way because of _you._

"Me?" Raki said dubiously.

"Yes." Reaching up, Riful removed the cloth that covered his left eye. It was silver, but there was no doubt in her mind that it had changed to gold moments before. "Just now, when you got upset, you let out a huge burst of yoma energy."

"I did?" Raki asked incredulously.

"And that's not the strangest part either. You didn't just let out the youki energy. You _gave _it out. Mostly to me, although some latched on to the villagers, which was why they were acting so strange."

"…"

"Raki, just now, you practically forced your yoma energy on me and the townspeople. You gave me _a lot _of power. I almost accidentally entered my awakened form"

"Oh." Was all Raki could say.

As the two walked silently back to the castle ruins, Riful contemplated her tall companion. _He transfers power? That's amazing, I've never heard of such a thing. There have been warriors and awakened beings that could manipulate others through their yoma power, but give it away? And that's not even half of it- his youki aura is completely unchanged compared to before. He should be somewhat depleted after something like that, but he's fine… Is he producing his own yoma energy now? _

Beside her, Raki fidgeted uncomfortably. _What did Riful mean when she said that I gave her my energy? Did I sort of – channel it to her? And the townspeople…_ Raki glanced behind them uncertainly, but the town was already out of view. "What will happen to the humans in the town?"

"Who knows? Perhaps it will wear off." Riful sensed a dark energy of uncertainty and guilt from within her tall companion. _Well, there is one thing I can be certain of, and that's that he is a powerful ally. But he's easily influenced by outside forces. So no matter what… I must make him completely loyal to me! _

With a small smile, Riful reached up and patted his arm. "Don't worry Raki, they'll be okay. The energy only got them a little." That was a lie. All the same, it had the desired effect on the man.

Raki rubbed his eyes with his hands, lingering over his left eye before slowly lowering his hands. "Thanks, Riful. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here. I really appreciate it."

"Of course."

Raki looked down at Riful and immense gratitude rose up through his chest._ If it wasn't for her…I really would be lost._ _I was suspicious of her intentions in the beginning, but I'm starting to think that maybe… she just wants a friend. _

They walked the rest of the way to the ruins in silence.

When they arrived back at the castle, Raki looked around the room silently before sitting awkwardly on the mesh of blankets. After something like that, he wasn't sure what to do. Should he leave? Should he beg Riful for help? And what was he now anyway? He wasn't a human, he wasn't a yoma, he wasn't a Claymore… was he a monster…? There was only one thing he could really be certain of, and that was that everything had changed. For better or worse, who knew? But more importantly, would his goal be affected if things were like this? Riful lingered in the doorway.

"Are you hungry Raki?" She finally asked, "The food you bought is right here."

"Yeah, thanks." Raki munched on the bread. After a moment of distracted hesitation, he asked, "Would you like some food Riful?"

"Ah… alright…" Riful took the offered bread hesitantly. Human food didn't taste all that good, and it wasn't as beneficial for her as human flesh, but her body could use it as nutrition… _And seeming more human can't hurt when it comes to him either._

Riful took a small bite of bread. The unfamiliar dry, soft, and grainy taste almost made her gag at first, but she grew used to it rather quickly.

Raki, who had been watching her, said "You don't have to force yourself Riful. It probably doesn't taste very good to you, right?" Riful started in surprise. _Could it be that he's aware of our eating habits? ….Perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised. That girl saved his life after all. _

"It's okay, actually. The taste is surprisingly easy to get used to. But… Raki, how did you know about all this?" Riful gestured to herself and the food, genuinely curious.

Raki was silent for a while before answering. _I suppose it's okay to tell her. _"The… arm that was in my back, I was friends with its owner." Riful nodded slowly, she had expected as much, but it still came as a bit of a shock. "I traveled with her, as well as someone else, for close to seven years. And she restrained herself the entire time. She never ate anything. The other person with us did eat, although sparingly. I was disgusted and a little scared when I found out, but at that time I was already very close to him. I couldn't hate him, so for a long time I more or less turned a blind eye."

"…I see."

"It took me a long time to accept who my companions were, but when I did, I felt better. Because really, they weren't so different from humans. They laughed, and cried, they were kind and showed mercy and compassion. They can't help it, it's just the way they are. " Riful's breath caught in her throat. _This man… _

"So that's why…" Raki reached up and softly touched his silver eye. "I don't understand why Pri-, my companion, did this to me. I accepted her for what she was, so why… why couldn't she accept me?" Raki covered both his eyes with his hand and leaned up against the stone wall. Riful knelt carefully next to Raki.

"She saved your life, Raki."

"…"

"Those rods would have taken you over had it not been for that arm." Riful placed what she hoped was a comforting hand on his arm.

"I… I know… I'm sorry Riful. I don't mean to sound ungrateful. I just-"

"I know. It's okay."

That night Raki slept surprisingly well. Isley had always teased Raki about how quickly he could fall asleep. Of course, Raki had gone through seven years of extremely vigorous training, and at the end of the day, he had often been too tired to even eat dinner. So sleep came easily to him now. _And he certainly needs it. _Riful sat next to Raki as he slept, keeping a sort of watch over his dangerous aura. _How did this boy, this human, accept his companions? … Has he- can he, accept me? _Beside her, Raki mumbled something in his sleep.

"Hmm?" Breaking from her thoughts, Riful leaned in closer.

"Nh…Better che- … Mmm… Clare? No…"

Riful sat back. _Who's Clare? His 'companions' were Isley and that woman right? Her name wasn't Clare… I think. Oh, well. It's not important anyway. _Rather suddenly, Raki's aura grew warm and bright, full of happiness. Riful blinked. _Just what is he dreaming about? _Without really realizing it, she found herself smiling in return. _It must be a pretty good dream… _the small girl thought, almost jealously. _Wait. Why am I so happy?_ Scowling, the brunette moved away from the sleeping man.

…_Well, I'm tired anyway, so I'll go to sleep too. _

Raki woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and optimistic. _Today will be better than yesterday, _he thought stubbornly. Off to the side, Riful was sleeping on some course blankets. She lay curled up in a tiny ball; with her knees brought up to her chest and her head tucked into her body.

The corners of Raki's mouth lifted upward in a smile. _So cute… _

Looking away, the silver-eyed man locatedhis groceries from the previous day. _Now, how about some breakfast? _Sometime later, Riful woke to the unfamiliar aroma of human food. Rising from her hard bed, she stretched and wandered up to Raki, who was sitting on the floor with a bowl full of… salad? Scrunching her nose in a very Riful-ish way she said,

"What the heck are you eating."

Raki laughed through a mouthful of leafy greens. "What?" he joked, "Doesn't it look good?"

"Ugh. It looks like you're eating grass or something." Riful turned away in disgust. Raki laughed again and shrugged. "I dunno… they taste pretty good to me." Seriously, he said, "I didn't get a chance to buy much except bread and produce yesterday anyhow."

Riful didn't reply. She was too busy trying to get the gross image of eating _plants_ out of her head.

"…Say, Riful?" Raki set aside his bowl nervously.

"What is it?" She asked sweetly. From his tone, Riful knew that he was either about to say something important, or ask a favor.

"Can I ask you a favor?"

_Bingo. _Riful thought. "…That depends on the favor." She smiled, sitting down in front of him.

"Well… you see… I made a promise to someone a long time ago, and I haven't yet fulfilled that promise." Raki looked at her seriously and when she didn't reply kept talking. "We promised to each other that no matter what, we would stay alive to see each other again. That was over seven years ago. A lot of things have happened since then, but I still intend to keep that promise. And I don't think it's a good idea for me to be on my own right now, so I guess what I'm asking is, will you accompany me while I search for that person? At least until I'm stable, that is." Raki looked at his small and dangerous companion hopefully.

"Okay."

"Huh?"

"I'll help you look." Riful rested her chin on her folded hands and smiled. "We have to leave this place anyway, so it's not like it'll make much of a difference."

"Seriously? Wow- thank you so much Riful! I-"

"But on several conditions!" she yelled, suddenly serious. Raki was silent. "Condition number one: you have to stick with me at all times unless I say that you're okay. Condition number two! You must let me teach you how to control your youki so we don't have another episode like yesterday." Raki nodded quickly. "Oh, and obviously you're going to have to tell me who we're looking for and what kind of a connection you have to that person." Riful thought for a moment, tapping a long finger against her cheek. "If I think of anything else, I'll tell you. Can you agree with everything I just said?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. I think we should get going as soon as possible then. Can you be ready in an hour?"

"Yes, but Riful, why do you want to leave so soon? Not that I'm opposed to leaving now or anything."

"Hmm. Good question," Riful said. "There are several reasons, actually. Mainly, it would be convenient if for the time being if the organization continued believing I was dead."

"They think you're dead?" Raki asked quizzically.

"It's rather complicated, so I'm not going to explain it now. But… with that little incident yesterday, it is highly unlikely we have gone unnoticed. So it may be pointless anyway."

"I see…I'll prepare to leave then."

Riful was getting impatient. It had been three days since she and Raki left the castle ruins, in search of this 'Clare' person. Shortly after they left, Raki explained that Clare was a Claymore who saved him when he was a child. Banished from his village, Clare allowed Raki to travel with him. They traveled together for a while, before being forcefully separated. Apparently, he had been searching for her ever since. Although poetically tragic, the story bothered the abyssal one somewhat. For whatever reason, the name 'Clare' sounded familiar, and Riful wondered uneasily if she had tortured or killed such a warrior. But that wasn't the problem she was now presented with.

"Raki." She said, her voice dripping with impatience. "I need you to _focus._ This is important!"

"Sorry, Riful." The tall man said sheepishly.

"Try to remember how to expel that energy again. You were embarrassed right?"

Raki rubbed his chin. "I guess so."

"Okay. You were embarrassed. And then what? How did you feel when you let out the burst of yoma energy?"

"Really embarrassed?"

Riful rolled her eyes. "Can you replicate that feeling again?"

Raki sighed. It had been like this for almost the whole day. "I'll give it a try." With fierce concentration, he tried to resurrect every single time he had ever been embarrassed in his life. There were plenty of times, but he couldn't make himself feel all that bad. After a few moments of discouraging concentration, Raki released a burst of youki. It shimmered in the air a moment, and then immediately transferred to Riful. She suddenly drew in a breath, startled at the sudden increase of her energy.

"Did I do it?" Raki asked uncertainly.

"Yes, nice job." Riful breathed a sigh of relief. "Let's take a break for a little while. We should be approaching a town soon."

"Really?" Raki asked, surprised. Looking around, all he could see was endless forest in front of them. "How do you know?"

"I can sense the human's auras. If you try, I'm sure you can too."

"Hmm." Raki's face screwed over momentarily, and he blinked. "Oh, yeah!" I can sense them… that way!" Raki pointed in the direction they were heading, only to the leftish a bit.

"Uh-huh. Good job. Now try to spread your sensing abilities a bit and try to see how many towns you can sense."

With a jesting smile, her tall companion asked "I thought we were taking a break?" Riful shrugged.

"…I can sense… five other towns, besides this one." Raki said, his visible eye closed.

_So that's his ability, huh. _Riful could sense nine other towns.

"And also something else." Raki continued. "It's much… brighter than the towns. Wait! There's another one!"

"Those are the auras of Warriors. Don't forget what they feel like, for they are a danger to you."

"Why are they a danger? They're not allowed to attack no-"With a start, Raki looked a little downcast and whispered "oh, yeah." So quiet that Riful almost didn't hear it. After a moment however, he visibly shook it off.

"…Riful, I've been thinking. I need to get a sword."

"Yes, we'll see if we can get you one in the next town or so."

For the rest of the day, Riful taught Raki about his own aura and how to tell the difference between Yoma, Warrior and Awakened Being auras.

"Yoma and humans are the base of all auras." She explained. "See how the Yoma's aura is yellow-tinted?" She gestured in the direction where a sickly yellow aura hid in the foliage. "And how the humans are white?"

Raki nodded. "The human auras are very faint. They almost meld together. "

"That's right. For the most part, the stronger an aura, the stronger the being. Although there are ways to trick people into thinking your aura is weaker than it actually is. Most Warriors cannot even sense human auras. Either because they do not have the ability, or can't be bothered to learn, due to the lack of a threat humans pose."

"So how come you can sense them, then?"

"It's just because of my superior sensing ability." Riful lied swiftly. It wasn't like she could tell Raki she had learned the skill to locate her prey easier…

The tall man scratched his chin. "I can sense them pretty easily though."

"Yes. It seems that your aura sensing ability is very detailed. So in other words, you cannot sense things far away, but what you do sense is rather acute." Riful shrugged as she walked, swinging her arms casually. "Yoma and humans possess the weakest auras. From there you get Warriors, their auras are either silver or gold, depending on which part of their minds they are leaning towards at the moment. Furthermore, Warriors have significantly varying aura strengths. The weakest among them are barely above humans, and the strongest are akin to Awakened Beings."

Raki frowned, committing everything she said to memory.

"Which brings us to the fourth and final species. Awakened Beings are Warriors who reached their limits and failed to die. I am an Awakened Being, and so were your former companions."

"I see. That makes sense."

"Awakened Beings are generally the strongest, although some Warriors can boast killing us single handedly. If you try and sense me, you'll find that my aura is white, like a human's."

Raki nodded and frowned. "Why is that?"

"It's the disguise that I told you about. A skilled aura reader could sense the true power underneath. Go ahead and try."

Raki tried to do as she said, but all he could see was white. Scowling, Raki reached with his mind and imagined pealing back her innocent human façade. To his surprise, the tactic worked; beneath the surface of her disguise, an enormous pool of dark purple youki swirled endlessly. Sweating slightly, Raki pulled away.

"Did you feel it?" Riful asked quizzically.

"Y-yes."

"Oh, good!" Riful clapped her hands together and gave a little bounce.

Raki relaxed slightly. _She may be crazy strong and scary, _Raki thought. _But she's nice… and kind of adorable._

Riful looked up at Raki from the corner of her eye. _He doesn't seem too shaken after sensing my true power… actually, I've noticed that he's become increasingly comfortable around me as we've traveled. _

"So, what about my aura?" Raki asked. "What is it like?"

"Your aura is sort of an anomaly. I'd say it's kind of a silvery blue, and about the size of a medium to high class Awakened Being."

"Cool." Raki smiled. Despite any feelings he may have had about his sudden turn from humanity, the benefits certainly seemed to be out-weighing the detriments at this point. Humming slightly, the tall man turned to adjust his armor. The left arm plates were still missing, and until he found a decent smith shop, he would have to deal with the constant unbalance. Raki didn't mind at the moment however, he was simply enjoying the feeling of a silent peace. Beside him, Riful walked gracefully along the edge of the road, her small hands clasped behind her back, a cheerful smile gifting her face.

Up ahead, Raki could sense a large mingling of human auras, a town. _Hmm. It's a pretty big one, maybe I'll find a smith shop there…_ As the two crested a hill to view the town that lay before them, Raki let out an excited, "Hey!"

"What?" Riful asked.

"I know this place! I passed through here years ago. There's a really good market here, it has all sorts of shops and stuff. I'm sure I can find a sword and replacement armor here!" Raki grinned excitedly, and swung his sword arm out in front of his body; already envisioning the weapon he would soon hold.

"Actually…" Riful looked at the town a bit closer, "now that you mention it, this place is remarkably close to a castle where I used to live. It's just beyond that mountain." The small girl pointed to the mountain closest to village, a happy expression on her face as she remembered her times spent in those castle ruins.

"You mean there are _other_ castle ruins around here?" Raki laughed.

Riful grinned in turn. "You'd be surprised! They're all over the place! If you know where to look…"

The pair wandered into town a short while later and Raki excitedly ran around the main square looking for a sword smith. Riful watched him interact with the humans; a permanently amused look on her face. From the way he acted, it was obvious to Riful that despite being no longer human, he still considered himself one at heart. For reasons she couldn't explain, that made Riful very, very sad.

"Hey, Riful!" Raki called when he found someone willing to make him a sword. "Over here!" Riful approached the shop quietly, lost in thought. The sword smith in question was a hugely muscular man with thick blond hair and a beard to match. He didn't look tasty at all. After a loud discussion which Riful didn't bother to follow, Raki followed the man into his shop. While her companion shopped inside, Riful loitered in the doorway, staring up at Mt. Zakol. "Ahh." Riful breathed out quietly. _So many memories. I wonder… what would have happened if we had never left this place? Would Dauf and I still be here, wasting our days away peacefully? No. Isley would have come eventually. He and that woman would have no doubt demolished us. Still, would we have been happier if we stayed…?_

After a while, Raki once again emerged, this time brandishing a large broadsword which he held with practiced ease. "Take a look at this, Riful." He said, showing her the expertly honed weapon. The polished surface gleamed in the sunlight, and Riful admired it as well. The blade was slightly shorter than a claymore, but it was also broader. The handle was ridged, for a better grip, and wrapped in tanned leather. It was a plain weapon, but well-made nonetheless.

"That's the one you're getting?" Riful asked.

"Not quite. Brendel's going to make some modifications on it for me. He says it won't take too long." (Riful assumed Brendel was the name of the smith.) Raki swung the sword around expertly, and his companion couldn't help but be a bit impressed. He was very good. Raki began moving through a complex series of movements, and Riful smiled at the adorable look of total focus on his face.

"Alright!" Raki announced. "This is a very good sword, although it is a bit too wide for my liking. I'll ask him to make it a bit longer… and maybe shorten the grip? Half-a-hand? Yeah, that'll work better." realizing that he was more or less talking to himself, Riful stayed quiet. "Hmm. I wonder if he makes armor… Does he have the right materials to replicate my shoulder plates? It's rather complicated…" Raki walked back into the shop, rambling to himself the whole way. Riful let loose a series of giggles as he disappeared. _Really, he is just too much! _

Sometime later, Raki once again emerged. Though this time swordless. And also armorless, Riful noted.

"Brendel says he should be done with the sword in a couple of hours, if he hurries." Raki told Riful, "I asked him about my armor, and he said he can make replacement pieces, but it'll take several days." Raki looked down towards Riful. "What do you think? Would you mind waiting in this town for that long?

"Raki." Riful said, blinking in surprise. "You know you don't actually need the armor anymore, right?"

"Oh. Yeah… but I'd rather have it anyway. I learned to fight with it; so much of my technique is armor-based. Besides, I feel sort of naked without it." Raki scratched the back of his neck, smiling in a self-conscious way.

"Alright," Riful finally sighed. _It's not like there's anything around here that could pose a threat to the two of us anyways. _"Let's find an inn then."

"Yes!" Raki fist pumped the air, and Riful smirked at his childish antics. She was about to turn away when Raki leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Thank you Riful!" he yelled, jumping away.

"Wha-?" To her utter horror, Riful found herself holding the cheek he kissed and blushing furiously. Suddenly angry at the young man, Riful stomped toward the nearest inn, dragging an exalted Raki by the wrist.

"Ow-ow-ow-ow! Riful that hurts! Let go! You're breaking my wrist!" It was true, His newly reinforced bones creaked under her enormous strength; if he had still been human, his wrist would have long since shattered.

"Shut up!" Riful yelled, pulling him through the door.

…

**AN:** Alright, this chapter was a bit longer than I originally planned, but I don't think you guys will mind too much. I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far; I never expected to receive so much feedback from just the first chapter!

And since I know someone is bound to ask, I'm going to explain why Riful only vaguely recognizes Clare's name. During "the witches' maw" chapters, Galatea constantly refers to Clare merely as "47." And then later, after the time-skip, Riful recognizes Clare, but does not call her name. In fact, she refers to Galatea as "the long-haired one." (Apparently the characters in Claymore aren't big on introductions) Also, this is an extremely useful plot device for me to use as Raki and Riful grow closer together.

If you happen to notice any inconsistencies, please go ahead and write a review or PM me. I looked over everything as best as I could, but hey, nobody's perfect. The same thing goes if you have any ideas/suggestions or questions.

Well, that's about it for now, except for one thing. If Riful and Raki are romantically involved, does that make Riful a cougar, or Raki a lolicon?

Remember to review!


	3. Chapter 3

Raki was alone in an huge, empty field. _Where am I?_ Frowning, the brown haired man turned in a small circle, looking for some sort of landmark. _How the hell did I get here? _Long, fresh grass stretched as wide and as far as an ocean. The stalks undulated in a strong wind, and Raki vaguely noticed that his long hair didn't stir, nor did the cloak he wore over his armor. Spotting a lonely figure in the distance, the young man walked smoothly forward, barely disturbing the grass beneath him. As he glided over, Raki saw that the figure was a woman, and she had her back to him.

"Excuse me." He said when he was close enough. "Can you tell me where I am?" The woman didn't move. She was dressed in a tight black leather cut-off dress and black boots. Simple armor adorned her shoulders and forearms. She had short blond hair and in her right hand she gripped a sword. Raki's breath caught in his throat.

"Clare…?" He asked softly. Still, the woman didn't move. Raki moved around her side, not wanting to startle her. When he saw her face, Raki nearly cried. She looked exactly as he remembered her. Calm, emotionless, beautiful. Still, she didn't look at him. "Clare!" Raki said again, reaching out to her. His hand brushed her arm, and her eyes flashed to him. Without meaning to, Raki whimpered and stepped back. Her eyes held an uncontainable hatred for the thing she now looked at. Clare looked Raki straight in the eyes and glared furiously.

"What do you want?!" She asked scathingly. Raki could only whimper and stare at the undisguised hatred.

"Clare?" He finally managed. "Don't you recognize me? It's Raki." Clare glared at him a moment longer before snorting and turning away.

"Raki? Don't mock me, Yoma." She said, returning to her usual emotionless state. "Raki is _human. _While you," Clare glanced at him distastefully, "are obviously _not _human. Now go away, monster. Unless you wish to die." The wind howled loudly in his ears.

_Monster?! _Frantically, Raki reached up and felt for the cloth that hid his silver eye. It wasn't there. With a soft yelp, Raki covered his eye with his hand. "C-Clare," he stuttered. "I know I'm… not the same, but please, you have to believe me! I'm Raki!"

Clare rounded on him furiously "Shut up! Don't you dare say his name again! Raki would _never _hurt another person!" Raki heard the wind grow louder, but he still couldn't feel it.

"What?! I didn't hurt anybody!"

Clare looked at him incredulously.

"Well not recently, anyway… B-but Clare! Those bandits deserved-" Raki froze. His hands were covered in blood. Human blood. His mouth tasted of sweet iron. Raki stepped backward in silent confusion, and his foot hit something soft. Looking down, Raki's gaze met cold, unseeing eyes.

Behind him lay the bloody corpse of a young man, his stomach had been ripped open, and the insides devoured. "Wha-" For a brief, wonderful moment, Raki was blissfully confused. Where had this man come from? Why hadn't he seen him before? Where was the yoma that had eaten him? The wind shrieked.

And then he saw. He saw himself subdue the man, and rip a hole open in his stomach mercilessly, spraying hot blood everywhere. He listened to the agonized screams for a moment… The thick blood covered his hands and got on his face and hair, but that didn't matter. Red, delicious red blood, spilled from the wound, and he licked it up. Stooping down, he gleefully ripped the flesh from the mans body with his teeth and swallowed…

Raki screamed and threw himself backward, away from the man, away from himself. _No. No way. Nononono NO! There's no way I could have done that! I'd never hurt another person like that! I'd never eat… them. I couldn't have done that! _

_But I did. I ate him. I ATE him. _

"Oh my god, I ate him!" Raki tore at his hair, eyes wild. "I ATE HIM!"

Clare looked at him and said simply, "You ate them too." She pointed out across the windswept field, in the direction Raki had come from. Slowly, and with a fierce dread settling in the pit of his stomach, Raki looked where she had pointed. Countless bodies littered the field, men, women, children. Each with unseeing eyes, and each with their stomachs ripped open and insides devoured.

"You're not my Raki." Clare said, venom dripping from her words. "You're a _monster."_

The wind screamed in his ears.

Raki bolted upright from his position on the bed. He breathed heavily, sweat poured down his face and arms, his legs tangled in rough sheets. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and he was moments away from screaming at the top of his lungs when he felt a small hand on his arm. Flinching away from the contact the frightened man prepared to fight, until he saw whose hand it was.

Riful stood beside his bed at the inn. Her face was one of sympathy and concern. Her hand hovered slightly where his arm had been, until it dropped to her side. Raki felt himself calming down, but still wasn't over the terror of his dream.

"Are you alright? What happened, Raki?" Riful stepped toward her companion slightly. She had been sleeping in the room next to his and had woken when she felt his aura darken with fear and unhappiness. "Were you having a nightmare?"

"I killed them." Raki whispered, eyes wide "I killed them all. I ate them too." At that, Raki's face scrunched up and he broke down, sobbing. Riful grasped the situation quickly, and clambered up onto the bed so she could be a level height with her companion.

"Raki." She said, grabbing his shoulders "Raki, you didn't kill anyone, okay? It was just a dream. Everything's fine. You're fine." Riful wiped the tears away from his scrunched face as he sobbed. "Shh. It's okay." Rather suddenly, Raki grabbed her arms and pulled her close to him. He wrapped his strong arms around her small body and sobbed into her hair. Surprised at the display of affection, Riful could only pat his shoulder awkwardly. Eventually Raki stopped crying, and his breathing became steady once more. His grip on her loosened, and he let go of her slowly.

"Sorry…" Raki looked down shame-faced, and wiped his eyes dry before looking up again. "Sorry Riful. Sorry."

The small girl smiled sympathetically. Although Raki had just shown more vulnerability than ever before, she couldn't bring herself to analyze the situation or take advantage of his emotional weakness to gain his loyalty or trust. Instead she just did what she felt was right.

"Why don't we go for a bit of a walk, Raki? I'm sure the night air will be very refreshing."

Raki laughed slightly, relieving some of the tension he felt and nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

xxxxx

Walking through the deserted streets at night was indeed refreshing. The cool breeze dried the lingering sweat off of Raki's body, and simply being out and about with someone took his mind off things. Getting out of the inn unnoticed had been easy, they jumped out of the third story window in Raki's room, and landed without waking anyone up.

Around him, the town was quiet. It was a moonless night, and apart from the meager light from the scattering of a few stars, the only light came from the occasional candle in a window. The dark didn't bother the demonic pair, of course. In fact, Riful preferred it.

Raki was mildly surprised to see how his night vision was improved in both his eyes, not just his left. He tried not to let it bother him.

They stuck to the shadows, easily avoiding the few people they actually came across. At one point in their night wanderings they happened upon the town square. In the center of the square was a beautiful statue of the twin goddesses, Clare and Teresa. Raki went up to the statue and stared at it peacefully. He was somewhat amused that fate had led him to this town where, years before, he had sought a brief refuge almost directly after he had been separated from Clare. He had been injured, scared, miserable, and on the verge of physical exhaustion when this very statue (and a funny girl with messy hair) had given him some hope.

Riful didn't care for the statue. It looked a bit too much like the destroyer for her taste. And that name… Clare. It just grated on her nerves to no end. Where had she heard that name before? After a few minutes, Raki turned to Riful and said:

"I feel like going on a run. Want to come?" Riful cocked her head to one side sweetly before grinning savagely. The best of men would have felt a chill of pure terror down their spines; Raki thought it was cute.

"Last one to the top of Mt. Zakol has to eat a rotten egg!" The Abyssal shouted.

Raki frowned. "Which one's Mt. Zakol?" He asked to the empty air.

"Hey!" Raki shouted before taking off after Riful's quickly disappearing aura. He was so focused on trying to catch up to her, that for a moment he didn't even notice how fast he was actually running.

He had always been fast. He had what Isley called a "good takeoff" or in other words, he was very good at looking relaxed and standing still, then suddenly bursting forward with great speed. This almost always caught his opponents off guard, and was very useful in a fight.

As a human, Raki had been incredibly fast, as he was now… it was simply ridiculous. The buildings he ran past should have become blurred and indistinct with his speed, but they didn't. He saw tiny little details in his the stone path and minuscule imperfections in the houses on either side. It was only seconds later that Raki was outside of the large town. Looking around, he gasped at how the ground rushed by underneath him with every step he took. He was now running at speeds he could have only ever dreamed of before. Raki laughed mid-stride, and increased his caught up with the small girl moments later.

Bounding across the forrested landscape, Riful felt Raki catch up to her and smirked mischievously. _He's fast. _Knowing he would follow, Riful took the long route to the mountain, running wide circles around nearby hillsides. Taking a few slower strides, she pulled up level to her companion and grinned. How's the speed feeling, Raki?" She asked calmly "Do you think you can keep up if I pick up the pace a little?"

Raki grinned. "Bring it on!"

Riful did just that, going into full, "attack/escape" mode, nearly doubling her total speed.

When Riful disappeared in a furious burst of speed, Raki could only stare for a moment. Then he cackled happily and poured strength into his legs. Unbeknowst to him, his silver eye became slitted and glowed gold in the dark. Laughing breathlessly, he chased after Riful.

Riful won, of course. But still, it had been an interesting race right up until the end. Raki managed to catch up to Riful's full speed pretty close after she had taken off, but he couldn't maintain it as long as she could. So in the end he fell behind and she zipped up the mountain for the win. Raki arrived moments later, completely out of breath.

"No… way." He gasped. "The mountain… was this close… the whole… time?" Riful giggled and skipped to Raki's side.

"I won! You lost! You have to eat a rotten egg!"

Raki gaped at her, horrified. "You were serious about that?!"

Riful giggled and didn't answer. "Come o~n, Raki," she sang "we should head back to the inn before anyone notices we're gone!" Mentally praying that Riful was kidding about the whole egg thing, he followed her down the mountain, lazily zigzagging through the trees.

xxxxx

Galatea awoke with a gasp. She had been sleeping peacefully when something woke her up. Instantly, she searched for any foreign dangers lurking around Rabona. Finding none, the startled nun relaxed slightly before expanding her aura capabilities further. She located the source of her fear in the west. _There it is… wait. What is that...?_

xxxxx

Yawning magnificently, Raki stretched and sat up slowly. He had slept in, and based on the angle of the sun through the window, he guessed it to be around nine or so. Tying the cloth around his head and pulling on his boots, Raki walked quickly down the hall and knocked quietly on Riful's door.

When he didn't get an answer, Raki went ahead and let himself in. "Hey, Ri. Are you awa-" Raki froze in the doorway. Riful was still sleeping, her eyes closed peacefully, and her mouth parted slightly in a soft breath. Her long hair splayed outward on the bed and her legs were tangled in the sheets. _Oh my God. _Raki thought. _She is so adorable. _Deciding not to bother her, Raki walked quietly back outside. _Now, What was I doing again? Oh, yeah. I was going to check on my sword to see if Brendel was done with it. _With his focus successfully diverted, Raki headed to the smith shop.

Yawning, he strode lazily down the street, absent mindedly tugging at the cloth that covered his left eye. It was a bit annoying, walking around with only one eye. His range of sight was cut down by nearly half, and he kept bumping into things on his left side. _I suppose I'll have to train myself a bit to get used to it. _Raki thought, muttering an apology to the pole he'd just bumped into. It hadn't necessarily been an issue before, when it was just him and Riful, but towns were crowded, and he was finding it difficult to maneuver around as gracefully as he had before. Not to mention the fact that the stupid cloth itched like crazy. With a sigh, Raki left the cloth alone.

After bumping into the third or fourth person (or pole, he didn't bother to check,) Raki suddenly realized how stupid he was being. _Of course! _ He thought, slapping his forehead and causing several people to stare. _I just need to sense the humans around me! I don't need to see them to know where they are! _Closing his visible eye, Raki focused on sensing the humans around him, and smiled. It was easy. The human auras took on familiar shapes until it was like he was actually seeing them. He couldn't, of course, sense the non-human objects around him, but based on how the humans flowed around him, Raki could guess fairly easily where there were objects and where there weren't. For example, a woman to his right adjusted her course slightly to move around something he couldn't sense. Opening his eye, Raki saw that she had walked around a fruit stall. Striding confidently forward once again, Raki used his new technique to make it to Brendel's shop without bumping into a single person or object.

Walking inside the cool shop, Raki looked around happily for the smith. "Hey Brendel!" He called "Have you finished the sword alterations yet?" Appearing from the back of the shop, the huge smith scowled at nothing in particular, glanced at Raki and disappeared in the back again. Raki hummed slightly. He figured the smith was just grabbing his sword, and he was right, because moments later he reappeared holding a long sword wrapped in cloth. Brendel wordlessly handed it over. "All right!" Raki said unwrapping the blade. The handle was a bit shorter, and the blade longer and slimmer. The grip's leather had been thoroughly polished, and the blade gleamed with a newly sharpened edge. Raki swung it around a few times to test the balance. "It's perfect." He declared. Raki tipped the smith generously for the excellent job on his sword, and the man's scowl lessened somewhat. Promising to hurry with his armor, Brendel shooed the young man out of the store, but only after he ensured his customer got all the tools necessary for the upkeep on the sword.

Wrapped sword in tow, Raki wandered around the village for a little while, practicing sensing people and in turn, objects. By noon he felt that he had mastered the basics and was ready to test it in combat. _But will I ever use in in combat? _He wondered, _When I get into a fight, (and knowing myself it shouldn't take long) I'll probably just take the cloth off. It won't matter if an enemy sees my eye, because I'll kill them. Not to mention the fact that my advanced speed and stuff will definitely give me away… Then again, the human side of my face and neck is very vulnerable. I should probably hide my brown eye in combat to avoid having enemies targeting it. _Nodding to himself slowly, Raki decided that he was ready to go and see Riful again.

After dropping the sword off in his room, Raki went and knocked on her door. He didn't want to let himself in again, out of fear of… seeing something he shouldn't. A few moments later, Raki heard Riful call out, "Come on in, Raki."

Closing the door behind him, Raki said, "I was going to grab some brunch, seeing how its already pretty late." The one-eyed man looked to the girl staring out the window contemplatively. "Care to join me?"

"Mmm." Was her only reply. She was sitting on a low bench in front of the window, her chin resting comfortably on her folded hands. Walking to her side, Raki looked out the window curiously.

"Whatcha lookin' at, Riful?" He asked, placing a hand on her head affectionately.

"Mt. Zakol." She said.

"Oh, yeah?" Raki said, playing with her hair a bit. "Thinking about our race? You know," he said, pouting "that was really unfair. I didn't even know which one we were racing to! I demand a rematch one of these days." Raki dropped his hand to his side and sat down across from his companion on the bench. "You were really fast, though. I think I'll need a bit more training to build up my stamina before I'm ready to race you again." Riful gave him an amused look before looking back out the window. "Speaking of training, you wanna know what I did this morning?"

Riful turned her attention away from the mountain and back to Raki. "What did you do?"

Raki smiled and brought his hands up to his face. "Well, I was on my way to check to see if my sword was done, and I kept running into things!" Tugging off the cloth around his eye, Raki pointed to it. "It was this, I couldn't see things to my left side and kept bumping into people and poles and stuff. Well anyway, it finally occurred to me that I should just _sense _the humans around me!"

Raki continued to explain the finer points of his new technique, and Riful listened carefully. It was impressive, what he was telling her. She had pegged him as more of a physical type of warrior, but he was very good at sensing auras. And to master the basics of such a technique like blind-fighting in just a couple of hours… well, it would be an understatement to say he had potential. But as Raki continued to talk, Riful suddenly found herself thinking not about the potential of aura sensing, but about how glad she was that she had decided to let the happy man before her live. He was, she realized, a wonderful friend, and exactly the sort of person she needed after losing Dauf.

When he was done talking, Riful smiled and said, "Excellent, Raki. We should definitely work on that. But before we do, I think we need to focus on hiding your aura first. So… lets play a game."

xxxxx

Sweat poured down Raki's ashen face. His eyes were shut tight in concentration, and he was shaking slightly. Squeezed in between to wooden crates, he was hidden from the naked eye. Around him, he could vaguely sense human aura's milling about, but he ignored them. _Focus… focus… disappear. Suppress your aura! You're a human. Fragile as an egg. Your aura is white and indistinct. One of the many. Focus… focus…one of the many…_ Raki bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. _You're a human. Just don't let her find you… please don't find me! _

"I commend your concentration, but its still not strong enough."

"Aaah!" Raki stood up so fast he slammed his head against a wooden crate. "Ow…" Scowling, Raki looked up from his crouched position to see Riful beaming at him.

"You're getting better!" She praised. "It took me almost five minutes to find you that time!"

Raki groaned and allowed himself to fall forward onto his face. "No more," he begged from the ground.

"Oh, come on, Raki! We've only just started, and look how much progress we've already made!" Riful said, crouching down next to him.

"We've been doing this for over five hours!" Raki said, speaking mostly to the dirt.

"But Raki," Riful said, patting his sweaty head, "Hide and seek is _fun._"

"Fun for who, exactly?"

"Oh, hush." She said grabbing his hand and helping him to his feet. "Well, I guess we can stop for today…" Riful looked up at the sun as it sank to the western horizon, and Raki mentally cheered.

"Yes! I'm starving! Let's find somewhere to eat!" Raki said exuberantly, punching the air.

Five minutes later, the pair had managed to find their way to a small booth in a large tavern inn. Waving the waitress over, Raki ordered the house soup, and an extra rare steak for Riful. If the waitress thought this strange, she certainly didn't show it. Focusing her attention on Raki, she asked, "would you like a mug of our home-made brew to go with that steak?" The woman twirled a strand of brown hair around her finger and smiled at Raki, blinking rapidly.

"Um, no thanks. I'll stick to the tea. And the steak is for Riful, not me." Raki explained. The waitress gave Riful a distasteful look, before smiling again at Raki. "Well, don't be afraid to call me over if you change your mind, then." Walking away, the woman sashayed her hips seductively, no doubt for Raki's benefit, who for his part didn't even glance in her direction. Riful however, watched the woman walk away, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. _I believe I've just found my next meal, _She thought darkly. Leaving her meal plans for a later date, Riful turned her attention back to Raki, who was examining his fingernails.

"Do you think I'm still aging, Riful?" The muscular man asked suddenly, still looking at his fingers.

Surprised at the question, Riful didn't answer for a moment. "Ah, no. I don't think so." Riful shook her head, "actually I'm almost a hundred percent sure that you aren't." Curious as to what was so interesting, Riful inspected her own fingers. "So how does it feel, knowing that you'll be young and handsome forever?" She teased mindlessly. Finding nothing interesting about her own fingernails, Riful grabbed Raki's hand and inspected his.

"Um… good, I guess? But actually…" Raki leaned forward and Riful saw worry etched into his face. "What if this part of my face," Raki pointed to his brown eye, "keeps aging, and the other part doesn't?" The mental image that popped into Riful's head was so absurd, she simply couldn't help herself , and burst into laughing hysterics. "H-hey!" Raki said. "It's not funny! I'm seriously worried here!" Pulling his hand away, Raki sat back and pouted until the girl across from him regained control of herself. Which took a while.

"S-sorry." She finally wheezed, "It's just that… you…" Riful broke out into laughter again, and Raki pouted even more. Regaining herself quicker this time, Riful leaned forward and said, "in all seriousness though, don't worry. I once met an offensive warrior who lost her left arm in battle. It took several months, but she eventually managed to regenerate a normal human arm. Fortunately for her, her right arm was dominant and she was able to continue being a warrior. She actually rose through the ranks to number three during my era! Anyway, although she lived for quite a while, the youki in the rest of her body managed to keep that human arm young and generally looking the same as the rest of her."

Raki breathed a sigh of relief. "Well thank god for that." He said seriously. Riful raised a single eyebrow and opened her mouth to comment, but before she could speak, the flirtatious waitress sashayed back up to the table and placed a large mug of pungent alcohol in front of Raki and small cup of tea in front of Riful.

"Hey!" Raki said to the waitress who was now walking away. "I didn't order this!" The waitress turned back around and smiled. "It's on the house, hun." Glowering at his mug of beer, Raki eyed Riful's tea and asked seriously, "wanna trade?"

Cocking her head to one side, Riful contemplated the offer before grabbing the alcohol and taking a large gulp. She thought it to be pretty poor quality, but drank it all the same. Raki enjoyed the tea.

When the waitress came back a few minutes later with a bloody steak and potato soup, she seemed shocked when she saw Riful downing the ale, and Raki savoring the tea. Blinking, she set the food down, scowled at Riful, and walked away with out a word. Riful giggled and let some of the alcohol into her blood stream before cutting up her steak.

"Hmm." She said, trying a piece. "It's a bit gamey, and the blood is sort of watery…" Raki looked up at her over his soup but didn't say anything.

She tried another piece. "It's pretty tough, but I like the spices." Raki blinked. Riful took another bite, chewing contemplatively. Finally, she said, "Do you think they'll give me a raw steak?" Raki snorted and called the waitress over.

Obviously deciding to ignore Riful, the woman addressed Raki "What do you need, sugar? I can get you _anything _you want." Beyond the line of view of the waitress, Riful mimed a vomiting motion. Raki grinned at her antics, and the waitress, who thought he was smiling at her offer, puffed her chest out.

Raki smiled up at the woman happily. "Could you bring us a raw steak please?" Obviously taken by surprise, the waitress took a step backward and said, "Um. A raw steak?… Sure, I guess. Okay. Can I, uh…Can I get you anything else…?"

Riful thrust her empty mug at the woman. "Bring some more." She ordered. Baffled, the waitress took the cup and walked away. Riful giggled and Raki snickered.

"We should mess with people more often," Raki said, spearing a piece of Riful's undercooked steak.

"We really should." She agreed. After a few moments, the waitress came back with another thing of ale and a raw steak. Giving the pair an uneasy look, she quickly left. At first Raki had worried that their… interesting… food choices would bring unwanted attention to them, but he needn't have worried. It was the end of the work week, and the tavern was packed. Nobody paid attention to the handsome one-eyed man and his small companion any more than they needed to. Riful devoured the steak and sighed appreciatively. "It's still too tough… but not nearly as bad as the first one." She declared.

"Mmm." Raki said thoughtfully.

Gulping down her drink, Riful let a bit of the substance into her bloodstream. _Dauf really used to like this stuff… back when he was a Warrior. _

"Well," Raki said after a while. "I don't know about you, Ri, but I'm beat. Wanna head back to the inn?"

Riful stood up and stretched. "Alright, lets go."

Outside the warm-bodied tavern, the air had chilled substantially, hinting at a harsh winter this season. Neither Raki nor Riful paid it any attention, and both unconsciously adjusted their bodies temperatures to make up for the cold until they made it back to the inn. Once inside, they walked up the stairs and down the hallway together, until they came to their respective rooms.

"Good night, Riful." Raki said. "Sleep well!"

Riful nodded and responded, "You too." With that, Raki took out his key and slipped it into the lock before entering his dark room. Riful watched him for a moment, and then turned to her own door. _Now where the hell did I put my key? _

xxxxx

Over the next two days Riful trained Raki to properly hide his aura from others.

"Raki," She explained, "Your aura is a really ugly face."

"Um… excuse me?"

"Think of your aura as this totally disgusting and repulsive face, and anyone who can sense auras will see it and know that you're ugly. So what do you do? You put on a mask." Riful stepped back, satisfied with her explanation.

"Wait… are you saying my aura is ugly?" Raki exclaimed a bit put-out at the thought. He thought his blue-color was pretty…

"No Raki! All I'm saying is to _pretend_ that your aura needs to be hidden because its ugly."

"I don't have any idea what you're getting at here."

Pouting, the small abyssal waved her hands in the air and said, "just think of putting a mask on over your aura. It works for me every time."

Raki nodded slowly. Actually, he was pretty sure he knew what Riful was trying to tell him, but he couldn't see that working for him. So instead he visualized his aura as a blue stone, and then thought about painting that stone white. He then applied that same concept to his aura suppression. After working on it for the better part of a day, it finally worked. And although Raki found himself distinctly unsatisfied, Riful seamed pleased enough, so he decided to just use that for now and try to make it better later.

His aura successfully hidden, the pair took a bit of a break from training and decided to relax in the inn until the armor was finished, which should be soon, according to Brendel. To pass the time, Raki told Riful about his life while with Priscilla and Isley. Riful was impressed with the sort of vigorous training her fellow Abyssal had subjected a mere human to. What impressed her even more was that Raki was still alive and sane after it all.

"…And then another time, Isley came into my room in the middle of the night, tied me up with ropes, stuffed me in a bag and carted me off." Raki explained, telling her one of the many adventures he had had in the past seven years. Raki sat on his bed, and Riful had chosen the seat next to the window.

"At first I tried fighting back, but when I realized it was Isley I relaxed because I knew it was some sort of training exercise. Anyway, he carried me around for a long time, until he finally dumped me in this really weird place. I couldn't see where I was, obviously, but the ground was rocky and all the sounds echoed, so I knew I was in a cave. Then Isley told me that I had until sunset the next day to get back to the house, _or else._"

Riful arched an eyebrow at this, but Raki just shrugged. "Don't ask me what that means, all I knew was that I didn't want to find out. After that, he left me alone, still tied up and in the bag. Fortunately, I always have weapons on me, even when I'm sleeping." Riful blinked. She didn't know that. "So after a while of struggling, I managed to grab the hunting knife in my boot with my teeth, and after even more struggling, I cut one of my hands free. Keep in mind that all through this I am in a burlap bag that, for whatever reason, smelled very strongly of oranges and tree fungus. Not a good combination. Anyway, after I got my hands free, it went much faster. I cut open the bag, and was _finally out _of that smelly thing. It was still night time, and pitch black in the cave. After feeling around for a minute I discovered that Isley had placed me on a ledge on one side of the cave wall. Furthermore, I realized that I wasn't alone in the cave. There was this weird sniffing sound below me, and it sounded big, so I decided to stay put until morning." Raki suddenly stopped talking and yawned magnificently, falling backwards on the bed. It was almost midnight after all; he was tired.

Riful waited impatiently for Raki to continue his story, and when it became apparent that he wasn't, she poked him in the stomach until he laughed.

"H-hey! Stop that, Ri!"

"Come on!" She said, poking him with her hair now, "finish your story!"

Raki gasped with laughter and hopelessly tried to fend off her tickling hair. "Come on, Riful, I'm tired! Leave me alone! I'll finish the story in the morning!"

Riful scowled and jumped on her companions stomach, causing him grunt in surprise. "No way!" She growled, "finish your story, or _I'll keep tickling you!_" And she did just that, until Raki finally caved.

"F-fine." He finally managed, sitting up and continuing the story (although somewhat bitterly). "When it was finally light enough to see, I found myself twenty feet off the main cave floor on a really high ledge. Below me there was a , get this,_ a bear._"

"A bear?" Riful asked, surprised.

Yup, a bear. Fortunately for me it was sleeping. Isley had told me once that bears have some of the best noses on the whole continent. Better than Yoma, even. But they have really bad eyesight. I was surprised it hadn't already smelled me, but then I realized it had been because I was in the bag. Remember how I said it smelled like oranges and tree fungus? Well, that had masked my human smell. So I rubbed that bag all over my body and very carefully climbed down off the ledge. On my way down, my foot slipped, and a rock fell down onto the cave floor, making a huge racket."

Raki sighed and shook his head comically "The bear woke up, and it was pissed. I thought I was going to die. It was still sort of groggy from sleep, so when the bear charged me, he was off balance and I managed to draw another of my knives (so I had two) before he was on me. At this point in time, I'd been with Isley for… two years maybe? Well, the bear was slower than me, but still much stronger."

Raki made a show of his hands. "It swung one of its paws at me like this!" He batted Riful in the head with a soft hand. "And I dodged it's paw like this!" Raki ducked under Riful's retaliation punch to his face. "And then I ducked under the bears guard and… snick! I stabbed it right in its heart!"

Raki made the stabbing motion in the air, and Riful giggled. "At least," Raki said, eyes glinting. "That's what I thought! But I must have missed, or the bear must have been fatter than I realized, because it attacked again." Raki grinned at Riful, who was leaning forward eagerly, waiting to hear what happened next. Raki brought his arms above his head.

"RAWR!" He yelled. "The bear swung his arm down like this! And I, shocked that he was still alive, jumped out of the way like this!" Raki mimed out each action in turn, sometimes forcing Riful to dodge his flailing arms.

"Using the cave wall as leverage, I leapt at the bear's head, and…" Raki paused, taking a moment to appreciate Riful's eager face and pat himself on the back for telling the story so well. "I slammed my hunting knife as hard and as fast as I could into the things skull, immediately killing it!"

"Yay!" Riful clapped her hands together, applauding Raki's kill.

Raki grinned. "My momentum off the wall knocked both of us backwards, and fortunately for me, the dead bear broke my fall. So I emerged unscathed and victorious!" Riful applauded again, and Raki bowed theatrically. "After that, I simply tracked Isley's path back through the forest to the house."

"And you didn't have to find out what '_or else' _meant." Riful concluded for him.

Raki leaned back against his pillows. "Yup." He said. "Of course, I found out eventually. But I was spared that time."

Before Riful could respond, Raki closed his eyes, and his breath softened. After a few moments, he was asleep. Riful blinked in surprise, and waved a hand in front of his face. He didn't move.

_He certainly falls asleep fast. _Riful smirked, amused. _I suppose it's easy to say now that he trusts me completely. He wouldn't fall asleep like this if he didn't. _Sitting next to him, Riful examined his sleeping face. Humming softly, she stroked his hair and thought, _His face is so… happy when he's sleeping. It's really adorable._ Riful felt her own eyes growing heavy, and before she really new what she was doing, Riful snuggled up to her companions chest and breathed in his scent. She sighed quietly. He smelled nice.

Raki stirred slightly, and for a moment, Riful thought he was going to wake up. Instead he shifted onto his side, and pulled her closer to his chest.

"Clare…" He mumbled.

Riful blinked in surprise, and then scowled angrily.

"Not Clare." She whispered in his ear. "Riful. It's Riful. I'm Riful."

"Riful."

xxxxx

"Okay, Ri. Are you ready to leave?"

Riful smiled and nodded. She was sporting a small backpack of supplies, and a new dark purple dress. Raki himself was wearing his recently-finished-very-shiny armor, as well as a black cloak. Riful had also bought a cloak, but she had elected to store it in her backpack rather than wear it. (She claimed it was because it wasn't cold, but Raki knew she just wanted to show off her new dress).

"Let's go, then!" After thanking Brendel and returning their (solitary) key to the inn, Raki and Riful they gratefully left the large town. It had been okay, staying in the town for a few days, but both had gotten tired of the constant noise and activity.

For her part, Riful had spent almost ten decades alone, save for Dauf. And being around so many people (even if they were just humans) had seriously gotten on her nerves. Similarly, Raki had spent seven years either on his own, or with quiet people, mainly Priscilla and Isley.

Not even two hours out of the town, the pair ran into trouble. "-Oh my gosh Raki," Riful was saying, "you wouldn't believe her manners! She was so rude! And looked a lot like a man, I'm afraid to say."

Raki looked down at the abyssal and raised an amused eyebrow, intrigued as to where this story was going. Riful put her hands on her hips, deepened her voice to sound more manly, and bobbed her head back and forth. "So." She said in a man's voice. "This is the Abyssal of the west, huh? …What's the big deal?" Throwing her hands in the air, she yelled, "What's the big deal?! Seriously?! _I'm _the big deal!" Grumbling, she kicked a loose rock on the cobblestones and muttered something about "needing to learn their place."

Raki patted his friend's head sympathetically. "I know what you mean, Riful. I once met this man Kero, he had no respect for anyone! He was rude and conceited and- well actually…" Raki mused, "before I explain that, let me just tell you that that man was the _creepiest _guy I've ever met. Hands down, people. He-" Raki suddenly stopped walking, and cocked his head to one side attentively. "I hear horses." He said abruptly, and dragged Riful off to the side of the road. Moments later, Riful felt a large group of excited human auras rapidly approaching them. Raki felt them too, and groaned loudly. "Oh, god," he said, exasperated. "This better not be what I think it is."

It was. As the sound of hooves on the road grew louder, Raki found himself growing angry. A few moments later, a group of about sixty or so men, all on horses rounded the bend. Brandishing large and flashy weapons, they yelled an obnoxious war cry. _Why are they yelling? Are they stupid…? _Raki thought. _They're almost an hour away from town…! _"How annoying." Raki said, drawing his sword. Turning to Riful, he explained, "I hate bandits more than anything in the world." Raki explained, eyes narrowed. "And they're heading to that town we just left aren't they? Well… I guess I don't have much of a choice do I, Ri?"

Smiling demonically, Riful reached up and pulled off the cloth that covered his left eye. Moments later, Raki shot off after the horse-riding idiots.

The blood bath that followed made Riful really hungry.

Raki leapt into the air and brought his sword down on the first unfortunate victim. Blood spattered the air, and the horse kept running, not even realizing that its rider had been decapitated. Swinging his sword through the throng of bandits, thirty of the men were dead before the rest realized what was happening.

To Riful, who was casually running alongside the fast-turning slaughter, Raki looked rather… majestic. _Yup. That's a good word, _she thought. _Majestic. _He leapt among the horses gracefully, his body flowing like water between them. Even as she thought this, the armored man brought his sword up and cleaved it down like a sledge-hammer onto a terrified bandits head. Riful giggled at the sight of the gore. A few of the men tried to fight back, but next to Raki, their efforts were ugly and pathetic. Not even the blood from his victims could touch him.

Screaming incoherently, the remaining men began to scatter, their panic fueling the 'flight' response. Raki growled softly. He loathedbandits. _They're the worst sort of people in the world. _Raki went ahead and caught the rest of the bandits, but refrained from killing the ten or so that were left. For the hell of it, Raki tied them together with rope. The men blubbered, begging for their lives. It was annoying.

"Be quiet, or I'll kill you, too." Raki said coldly.

The bandits did as they were told. "So," the silver-eyed man said, crouching in front of one of the bandits, "were you guys going to rob that village there to the west?" Terrified, they nodded quickly, not wanting to upset this man with the one silver eye.

Raki frowned and tapped his cheek contemplatively. "Reaaally. I don't believe you." Raki said, giving them his fiercest glare. Whimpering, the bandits stuttered out assurances that they were, in fact, telling the truth. "What the hell?" Raki asked, "Are you all stupid or something? I mean sure there are a lot of you, well, _were _a lot of you, but not enough to take that sort of town! It's way too big. So you all better straighten up and tell me the truth, I'm probably going to kill you anyway, so don't make me any angrier than I already am," He said, wiping a bit of blood off his sleeve. The captive men broke down into rambling sobs, and Raki sighed. _These men can kill a child and not feel a thing, but the moment their own lives are in danger they turn into blubbering idiots, begging me to spare their measly, worthless lives. _

"Geez, Raki." Riful said from behind him. "What're you intimidating them so much for, anyway? Look! That one peed himself!"

"That's disgusting." She said directly to the soiled man. "You need to learn some self control."

"Oh, Riful. There you are." Standing up, Raki said as casually as he could manage, "Look, I found food." and gestured to the men, who blinked in confusion. He wanted their food…?

Riful giggled, "Oh, really?"

"Yeah…" Raki changed the subject. "but it doesn't make any sense, Ri! Even if these guys are idiots, no one is stupid enough to attack a town that big with so few people!"

"Oh. You didn't notice?" Riful walked a little ways away and picked up a severed head with one hand. "See? They had a yoma on their side." Raki looked closer and saw that the corpse was indeed a yoma's.

"Hmph."

"Wait- you didn't notice when you killed it?"

"Uh… No."

"And you didn't sense it either?" Riful tutted, "We'll have to work on that."

"Still," Raki said, "One yoma wouldn't be enough to take a town of that size."

The girl in purple shrugged. "There would have been survivors. All the same, you just saved a lot of innocent lives."

Raki nodded. "That was sort of the point."

After a moment of silence, both Riful and Raki turned to look at their prisoners, who were staring at Riful hopefully. (Surely this cute and totally innocent girl would save them from the silver-eyed demon?) "You said something about food." The she-demon said casually.

Raki waved at Riful to help herself and walked away, sheathing his sword. "I'm going to round up a pair of their horses." He said.

_Even though I know Riful needs to eat, and even though I saved these bandits for her, I just can't be around when she eats them. _Raki suppressed a shudder. _I'm not turning a blind eye anymore. _He thought sullenly, _but I haven't truly accepted this yet. Forgive me Riful, _he thought sadly, _but I'm not there yet. _

Riful patiently waited until Raki was a good distance away until she turned to her food.

xxxxx

Raki returned an hour or so later with a gray palomino and a black mare. By then, Riful had finished her meal, removed the bodies so Raki wouldn't have to see, and cleaned herself up.

"So… do you know how to ride a horse?" Raki asked sheepishly.

Riful blushed slightly and looked away. "N-no." She said. "I mean, there was never really a reason for me to learn. I've never had to blend in with humans until now."

Raki stroked the palomino's nose affectionately. "I figured as much." He said. "If you want, we can go ahead and just keep walking, or you can ride with me. Either way, I'm good."

"Um. Since we don't know how long we'll be traveling for, I'll ride with you. For now."

Raki tightened the straps to the saddle on the Palomino. "Alrighty then, we'll ride him for now, the mare can be yours once you learn how to ride on your own." Raki tied the mare's lead around the lower straps of the white horses' leather saddle, and smiled. "And really, how long will that take? Two hours…? Three, max, and you'll be riding like a pro."

Riful cocked her head to one side. "What's a mare?"

"It's another name for a female horse."

"Female? How can you tell?" Riful bent over and examined the horses for several long moments. After a minute she stood up and pointed to the palomino. "That one's a boy." She said matter-of-factly.

"Ah… Yup. Definitely male." Raki cleared his throat. "Anyway, lets get going. I want to be out of here before anyone comes across these bodies."

"Mmkay."

Raki mounted the gray horse skillfully and pulled Riful up behind him. He decided to just walk the horse for a bit, letting Riful get used to the movement. She put her arms around his waist, since it was inconvenient to put them anywhere else, and leaned against his back. Raki's back was warm, big, and smelled nice. Breathing deeper, Riful tried to identify what was so good about it. Well, he smelled a lot like blood, since he had just massacred over fifty bandits, and that was nice. But underneath that smell was a sort of cool, salty scent. Like the ocean. _Hmm. The ocean…? _

After a couple of minutes of walking, Riful poked Raki's back to get his attention. "What is it?" He asked, looking under his arm, where her face was pressed against his side.

"This is boring. Make the horse go faster," She said.

Raki grinned. "You sure?"

"Duh."

"Yah!" Raki kicked the horses flank, encouraging it into a gallop. "Hold on Ri!" He yelled behind him. Riful snorted. The horse wasn't even going that fast. She could run a hundred times faster than this animal. All the same, she paid close attention to how Raki used the reins to make slight adjustments to the beasts course, and she noted that when he wanted the animal to speed up, he kicked the horses side with his heels. When he wanted the it to slow down, he tugged slightly at the reins. After an hour, she had had enough, and poked his side once more. "You ready to ride, Ri?" He guessed, staring ahead.

"I want to ride the mar."

"It's _mare_."

"Whatever."

Raki laughed. "This horse is due for a break anyway. "We'll stop and get the black one set up for you."

A few minutes later, Riful was mounted and riding the horse. It was a bit weird, but she enjoyed it. "Riful," Raki instructed, "Lower the reins a bit. Keep the knot by the saddle. Yeah, like that. If you hold it any higher, the horse thinks you want it to stop." The small brunette listened to the instructions and committed everything to memory. When she was sure she'd gotten the hang of it, Riful decided to continue with her companions instruction on his aura distribution.

"Raki, why don't you try expelling and giving out your energy for a bit."

"Alright…" The armored man closed his eyes and concentrated. The first thing he did was release his aura, although he kept it as small as possible so as to not attract too much attention. Then he gathered some of it into a tight silvery blue ball. The next part was the hardest, he had found. Carefully, so as not to mess up, Raki pushed the ball out his body and diverted it to Riful's. It was hard to keep the energy from going other places, but Raki thought he was improving.

Riful felt Raki release his energy, and she felt a strange gathering of energy from within his body that she didn't understand. From there she felt him release his and moments later her own energy increased, it wasn't a huge amount, but it wasn't small either. "Try again." She instructed. "And this time, don't let it go anywhere else."

Raki did it several more times, improving his control each time. After about an hour, he grew too tired to continue and Riful told him to stop. By then she was practically buzzing with blue youki. She felt that if he gave her any more, she would be forced to enter her awakened form just to use some of it. Raki dozed off in his saddle, and after a couple of hours Riful's aura returned to its normal state. As she was riding next to her napping companion (who was slumped forward in a _very _uncomfortable-looking position, and drooling) she considered their next course of action. They would continue looking for the Clare person, of course, but there was no reason they had to just wander randomly.

_Isley's dead, as is Luciela. Well, sort of. The twin warriors from the organization are dead. Among the three Abyssals, that leaves only me alive. What happened to that woman, Priscilla was it? Is she still alive…? After I had recovered Raki from the Organization's men I felt the destroyer change… and then attack that woman's youki. But after that it was difficult to tell. Did the destroyer kill her? Did she kill the destroyer? Did they kill each other? No matter what, I believe its safe to say that the strongest powers in this land right now are me, either Priscilla or the destroyer, and the Organization. Once the Organization discovers I'm alive, if they haven't already, they'll definitely send more of those "Abyss Feeders" or whatever after me, _Riful thought sullenly. _And they probably have another set of twin warriors being trained to kill me… Ugh. That stupid Organization is so annoying! Why don't they just leave me alone? Geez, so what if I tortured the occasional warrior into Awakening? It's not that big of a deal. Trouble will come soon. But…what if I destroy the Organization? _

A sudden movement to her left distracted Riful from her thoughts. She turned just in time to see Raki bolt upright and throw his hands out in from of him protectively, shouting, "No, Isley! It wasn't me! I swear I didn't take your hairbrush!"

Riful could only stare at her friend as he regained his senses.

"Um…" Raki looked around himself, embarrassed. " Ah… Yep. That's just what I, uh…" Raki stared at the ground. "Oh, look, Riful," Raki said, blushing, "There's a town up ahead. Um. I-I'll race you there!" He pushed his horse into a gallop, and Riful rolled her eyes. Kicking her own horses flank, she chased after Raki, determined to beat him to the village ahead.

xxxxx

**Author's note: **Please forgive me. I apologize to everyone out there who has been waiting for this chapter, several complications came up and I ended up losing half of the original chapter, so I had to start from scratch. But let me assure you that I am _not _going to drop this fiction. That said, I'll be getting chapter four out much faster than chapter three, so don't worry!

And, wow. This chapter is really long. It's actually more like two chapters, but I think you all deserve this after I made you wait so long for this one.

I feel like doing an omake, but I'm not sure if I should. What do you guys think?

As always, please, please, please, review! They give me so much motivation to write, and I love the feedback.

Thanks for everyone's support!


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